It’s so cold you may
as well stay inside and read a FWA blog – Vic DiGenti

Stuff from a
Writer’s Quill — Charles Baudelaire

Stuff from Hither and Yon

FWA news about meetings,
contests, and workshops

The Wrong Stuff – Howard
Denson

Writers Born This Month

Meetings of NFW and Other
Groups

Useful Links

Need someone to critique a
manuscript?

The Write Staff

Michael Ray Fitzgerald

to discuss writing

about TV’s Indians

The North Florida Writers will hear
Michael Ray Fitzgerald at the Feb. 8 meeting speak
about the writing of his book, “Native Americans on
Network TV: Stereotypes, Myths, and the ‘Good
Indian.’” The meeting will be at the VyStar Credit
Union at 760 Riverside Ave., next to the Fuller
Warren Bridge and Saturday’s Riverside Arts Market.
The meeting, which is free and open to the public,
will begin at noon and end before 3 p.m.

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The book from Lanham, Md.-based
Scarecrow Press is a revised version of his doctoral
thesis, which Fitzgerald wrote under the supervision
of Prof. Jonathan Bignell at the University of
Reading in Berkshire, England. Bignell is a
prominent author-scholar in the U.K.

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Fitzgerald’s book examines
stereotypes of Native Americans on U.S. television,
some of which, he asserts, have roots that go as far
back as Pocahontas and Daniel Defoe’s Friday (from
“The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe”).

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“I believe mine is the only book
that focuses solely on American Indian characters on
television,” Fitzgerald says. “Most studies of this
nature combine television representations with those
of film. This one focuses exclusively on television
representations.”

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Fitzgerald signed the contract while
attending a conference in Milwaukee sponsored by the
journal Film & History, where he met series
editor Cynthia Miller, a professor at Emerson
College in Boston. The contract was accepted by
Scarecrow’s senior editor Stephen Ryan.

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Fitzgerald, a long-time musician on
the Jacksonville scene, returned to college in 2000
and earned his Ph.D. in 2012. He is also a freelance
journalist who has written for such publications as
The Humanist, Free Inquiry, Southern Cultures, and
Utne Reader. A collection of his stories written for
various publications titled “Mixed Metaphors” is
available through Lulu.com. He teaches communication
at Jacksonville University and the College of
Coastal Georgia.

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For the critiques, someone other
than the author of respective works will read aloud
the submissions (up to 20 double-spaced TYPED pages
of prose, and reasonable amounts of poetry or
lyrics). Authors may not defend their work, but they
may attach questions they would like answered (e.g.,
“Is the scene on the beach convincing?”). Authors
should listen to the words and rhythms of their
creations.

The Amelia Island Book Festival will
welcome best-selling novelist David Baldacci as its
headliner for the annual celebration of writing and
books. The Festival will last from Feb. 20 to Feb.
22. AIBF has almost become the “last man standing”
as other writers’ conferences and book festivals
have disappeared in Northeast Florida. Aspiring
writers and conscientious readers will want to take
advantage of the opportunity to celebrate books in
the scenic environment of Fernandina Beach.

Readers and Hollywood love the
stories of Baldacci, whose latest work is “King and
Maxwell.”

Dozens of novelists, nonfiction
authors, poets, children’s authors, and editors will
attend the festival. For information about them, go
to http://ameliaislandbookfestival.com/. Friday will feature a day of
workshops at the Betty Cook Center in Yulee. After
Feb. 1, the fee will be $85 and will include a box
lunch.

Amazon Breakthrough

Novel Award seeks entries

from Feb. 16 to Mar. 2

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The annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel
Award (ABNA) contest, which seeks great new voices
in popular fiction, will accept submissions from
Sunday, Feb. 16, to Sunday, Mar. 2 (or earlier if
10,000 entries have been received).

Amazon Publishing announces
that one Grand Prize winner will receive a
publishing contract with an advance of $50,000. In
addition, four First Prize winners will each receive
a publishing contract from Amazon Publishing with an
advance of $15,000.

The ABNA contest is open to unpublished and
self-published novels. Authors can submit their work
in one of the following categories: general fiction;
mystery/thriller; romance; science
fiction/fantasy/horror; and young adult fiction. For
complete eligibility details, review the Official Contest Rules. Visit the prizes page for the full list of prizes and
details.

CreateSpace will host the submission platform for
the contest. Visit CreateSpace to learn more about ABNA and create
a free account (if you haven't already) for entry in
the contest. You can also find key contest dates and
connect in the ABNA community with other authors.

The writing workshop on a
shanty boat docked on the Trout River has
maxed out on its new series of classes on
Feb. 4, according to freelance writer and
editor of Closet Books, Lynn Skapyak
Harlin, leader of the workshop. She says
if any writers want to visit any Tuesday
from Feb. 4-Mar. 11, they should email her
at lyharlin@aol.com.

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Arliss Ryan to give tips

on turning research

into ‘astounding’ fiction

Arliss Ryan, author and professional
storyteller, will speak to the Clay Writers Assn. on
Feb. 19 on “How to Turn Factual Research into
Astounding Fiction No Reader Can Resist.” The
meeting will be from 6:15 to 8 p.m. on that
Wednesday in the meeting room of the Orange Park
Public Library (2054 Plainfield Ave. off Kingsley
Ave. just behind the Dairy Queen).

Attendees will learn more about the
craft of writing from a masterful storyteller,
including techniques to apply in their own work.
“You’ll do a ton of research for your novel. Here’s
how to transform all those facts into riveting
fiction that keeps readers turning the pages late
into the night,” says Arliss.

In her talk, Arliss pairs examples
of research findings with short readings to
illustrate a variety of creative techniques for
integrating historical facts and background
information into your story. Attendees should
discover how to Incorporate historical information
and other types of research without bogging down the
story; spread research findings throughout the story
to create tension and advance the plot; and turn
hard facts into vivid emotions that bring characters
to life.

Arliss Ryan is the author of four
novels: “Sanctuary,” “The Secret Confessions of Anne
Shakespeare,” “How (Not) to Have a Perfect Wedding,”
and “The Kingsley House.” She has also written short
stories, magazine articles, and essays. Originally
from Detroit, she holds a B.A. in English from
University of Michigan. She and her husband live in
St. Augustine, where she writes fiction and works as
a professional storyteller. Her website: http://www.arlissryan.com.

Note: At the meeting, attendees may
purchase available books by Ms. Ryan for $15 each,
with 15% of the proceeds going to benefit the Orange
Park Public Library, though Friends of the OP
Library.

BookMark to host Tim Dorsey,

HarperCollins editors,

Annette
Simon, Jan-Phillipe
Sendker

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Owner
Rona Brinlee says
The BookMark (220 1st St., Neptune Beach) will host
novelists with tales set in Florida and Asia. The
independent bookstore will also present Book
Club Night with HarperCollins editors.

Tim
Dorsey, “Tiger Shrimp Tango” (William Morrow
& Co) Friday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m. -- Tim
Dorsey’s anti-hero, the Sunshine State's favorite
serial killer and encyclopedia of Florida lore Serge
Storms, is determined to save a damsel in distress
and dances a tango of death and mayhem in this funny
and dementedly entertaining crime caper.
Thanks to the Internet, America has become a
playground for ruthless scam artists out to make an
easy buck. And where do these models of
entrepreneurship hail from? Why, the Sunshine State
of course! No one loves Florida more, or can
keep it safe from invasive criminal species better
than self-appointed Sunshine Sheriff Serge Storms.
Rona says, when a particular scam leads to the death
of a few innocents and a young woman's
disappearance, Serge and his perpetually self-bent
sidekick Coleman--aided by his new pal, latter-day
noir private eye Mahoney--load up the car for a road
trip to do right.

Book
Club Night with HarperCollins, Monday, Feb. 24,
6:30 p.m. -- HarperCollins
sales representative Eric Svenson will present some
of his favorite choices for book clubs. This
is a wonderful chance to find out about books that
would inspire great discussions and books to add to
your reading list. The evening includes light
refreshments, good conversation, and prizes.

Annette
Simon, “Robot Burp Head Smartypants!”
(Candlewick), Sunday, March 2, 2
p.m.
-- The mechanical friends from Robot Zombie
Frankenstein! are back with a new game - and
the thirst to win it. Burp to ten? Easy! Burp by
tens while blindfolded, juggling, and skateboarding?
Simple! Now add the alphabet? REBOOT! Kirkus
calls it an "effervescent return." This is a
particularly special event for us since Annette is
part of The BookMark family.

Jan-Phillipe
Sendker, “A Well-Tempered Heart” (Other Press),
Wednesday, March 19, 7 p.m. -- Sendker's
follow-up to The Art of Hearing
Heartbeats picks up the story a decade after
Julia Win traveled to Burma, seeking her missing
father. Now a high-powered attorney mourning the end
of her engagement, Julia has started hearing the
voice of a bereft, heartbroken woman in her head.
This voice propels Julia back to Burma, where she is
reunited with her half-brother, U Ba, who believes
the voice belongs to Nu Nu, a woman who recently
dropped dead while out for a walk with her sister. U
Ba and Julia seek out Nu Nu's sister, who tells them
the sad tale of Nu Nu's life.

Boy, do I miss Johnny Carson and his
litany of cold weather jokes. You remember the ones
that began, "It's so cold that …" You can fill in
the rest with your favorites. One of mine was "It's
so cold lawyers have their hands in their own
pockets."

Anyway, while you're keeping warm,
get an advance look at what's happening next month
in this newly posted FWA blog that starts out with the
question "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"

Aside from the monthly meetings,
there's a slew of mini-conferences and daylong
workshops coming up. So, read all about the
happenings in the NE Florida FWA Blog post. And then you can tell me how cold
it is.

Stuff

from Hither

and Yon

.

Click on each link to go directly to
the story.

Written
Off:

Jennifer
Weiner’s quest

for
literary success

Rebecca
Mead in The New Yorker profiles Jennifer Weiner, whose
quest seems to be proving that plus-sized heroines can
make chick-lit novels as enjoyable as the ones that
feature young women who shop at Skeletons R Us.

The most illuminating aspect of
Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “The Bully Pulpit,”
according to Atlantic editors, is the spotlight it
shines on the muckraking journalism of the early
20th century, particularly as practiced by a
monthly magazine called McClure’s. Such writers
as Ida Tarbell, Ray Baker, and Lincoln Steffens
penned articles similar to the one on fighting
crime in Minneapolis.

Laura Miller, the book reviewer for
Salon, came across at least eight books in 2013 that
she couldn’t, and wouldn’t, get through. These range
from “Me Before You” by Jojo Moyes and “Gun Machine”
by Warren Ellis to “The Accursed” by Joyce Carol
Oates. http://www.salon.com/2014/01/01/8_books_i_bailed_on_in_2013/

From
the original

Hawkeye
to Dirty Harry,

the
loner hero

DelanceyPlace.com has given an
excerpt from “William Cooper's Town: Power and
Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American
Republic” by Alan Taylor. In the 1820s, James
Fenimore Cooper, author of such novels as “The Last
of the Mohicans,” invented the archetypal American
hero, "the socially marginal and rootless loner
operating in a violent no-man's-land beyond the rule
of law but guided by his own superior code of
justice." In doing so, he became America's first
successful novelist.

Women writers are far outnumbered by
men in magazines and book reviews, but why? Part of
the answer lies in book publishing, according to
Miriam Markowitz. She discusses the work of VIDA:
Women in Literary Arts, which tracks the number of
articles by males and females in selected
publications closely related to book publishing.

Alexandre Dumas has a special place
in France's literary hall of fame as the father of
great swashbuckling historical epics, but he had an
obscure co-author whose own works weren’t going
anywhere until the partnership with Dumas, according
to Henry
Samuel.

Jim Behrle has some useful tips for
SF writers who assemble time travel stories and
novels. A big “do” is to go forward in time first,
and a big “don’t” is not to be surprised that your
time travel friends are flakes. For more, go to

What do you do when you’ve read the
four Sherlock novels and all the stories in the
canon? Well, you can read those that try to imitate
Doyle, but Andrew DeYoung recommends you consider
Edgar Allan Poe’s Dupin stories, Wilkie Collins’
“The Moonstone,” Rex Stout’s Sherlock-like Nero
Wolfe and his Watson-like partner Archie Goodwin,
and others. Another option is to track down Hugh
Greene’s anthologies “Rivals of Sherlock Holmes”
(Dr. Thorndyke, Eugene Valmont, et al.—also included
in a BBC TV series in the 1970s).

Kathryn Schultz has written a light piece
for you to read before trying again to get through
“War and Peace,” as she focuses on the five best
punctuation marks in literature. For a sampling, she
says of parentheses in “Lolita”: “The
sentence [quoted in the article] goes on — for 84
more words, eleven commas, one colon, one semicolon,
and another set of parentheses. But the reader, like
Humbert Humbert’s unlucky mother, stops dead.
Nabokov is a daredevil writer, and often a florid
one, but what he shows off here is unbestable
economy. Like the lightning inside it, this
parenthetical aside is swift, staggering, and
brilliant. It is also Lolita (and Humbert) in
miniature: terrific panache containing terrible
darkness.”http://www.vulture.com/2014/01/best-punctuation-marks-literature-nabokov-eliot-dickens-levi.html

The list includes novelists, poets,
playwrights, nonfiction authors, writers for the
small and silver screen, and others.

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Looking for your favorite writer?
Hit “find” at the website and type in your
favorite’s name. Keep scrolling to find writers born
in other months.

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With misgivings, the list generally
omits lyricists (to avoid the plethora of
garage-band guitarists who knock out a lyric in two
minutes to go with a tune). Often lyricists are
accomplished in other writing areas and may cause
their inclusion (e.g., Bob Dylan, Johnny Mercer,
Cole Porter).

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Unfortunately, some writers fret
about identity theft and will only say they were
born in 1972 or whenever. Typically that means they
don’t get included on a “born this day” list.
Recommendation: Writers may wish to create a “pen
birthday”; that way, their names stay on the
public’s radar.

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If you see that we have omitted a
writer, give us his or her name (and preferably a
way to verify the belly-button day).

Want
to read an ebook

but
don’t have

a
Kindle or Nook ereader?

Most
readers are still relying on old-fashioned books
(which don’t need batteries), but they may still feel
unsettled when an ebook arrives. They don’t have a
Kindle, Nook, or a generic readers. What are they to
do?

Maloy
says that other e-readers (like Sony) will have
instructions on their websites on how to get the app
onto your preferred machine. (Scroll down in this
newsletter to see a book by Maloy that [hint, hint]
you might be interested in.)

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NFW suspends

dues indefinitely

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The North Florida Writers has
suspended its membership dues for an indefinite
period. The treasury has stabilized at a comfortable
level, and the NFW does not have any appreciable
expenses. Members suspected we could go without dues
for a couple of years and perhaps more. During this
period, anyone may attend and participate in the
monthly meetings. (Even with dues, writers were free
to attend a few meetings to see if the NFW would
suit their needs.)